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just back to work & pumping & now hurts

Just back to work after 7 weeks of wildly successful, pain free nursing. Even introduced a bottle & pacifier at 5 weeks with no issues. Now that I am pumping with the Medela Symphony (hospital pump) 4 - 6 times a day x 10 - 20 min each & the base of my nipples are incredibly raw. I pump that much at work because I work 10 - 12 hour days. Have only been back to work 5 days, noticed the soreness on day 3. was using the lansinoh lanolin but seemed to make the base of the nipples stickier & hurt more. Started using left over mama bee belly balm & that eases some discomfort while pumping but still sore. Am using 27 mm breast shields. Also have the setting on low (3 drops appear on screen in stimulation phase & 5 bars appear on letdown phase). Any advice?

Re: just back to work & pumping & now hu

A few thoughts: is the 27mm the right size for you? Have you referenced a size chart or just tried a bigger size? I know this helped me out immensely when I had this issue. Also why are you pumping for 10-20 min on each side? Is milk still being expressed the entire time? If not, at least while you are in so much pain, just limit pumping times to when milk flow stops. This is what I do when I get sore from pumping at work. Then when things resolve I pump the extra to stimulate milk production as usual.

DS born 2/11: EBF for 11 months, BF for 4 years
DD born 11/14: came to the hospital crowning, had her the old fashioned way, EBF for almost 3 months and counting
Looking to adopt a toddler internationally in the next year or so...

Re: just back to work & pumping & now hu

Milk does flow for nearly that long. Probably 15-17 min on left side. Little less on right side. I've cut down to after no drips for 1 min I stop pumping. After the initial latch the feeding feels good to get the milk drained out. Sometimes stings a bit when the milk is coming back in. But other than that, no pain.

Re: just back to work & pumping & now hu

Hope you get relief soon-you are doing such a great thing pumping your milk for your baby. It should not hurt! Ouch.

I am always telling moms that pumps can hurt and damage nipples. So many always think it is just nursing that can hurt and pumps are never an issue. Wrong!

As pposts say, flange size matters. Too small causes rubbing, but too large may allow too much of the areola to be pulled into the tunnel, which can also cause damage. You want nipple to move freely in and out of tunnel and pulling your areola slightly with it. If rubbing is the issue, the new Womanly art of Breastfeeding also suggests lubing the flange with a bit of olive oil or other non allergenic but edible oil. (But it says if fit is correct, this should not be necessary.) You may possibly even need a specialty flange, pumpnpals has an angled flange and I have heard about ‘soft’ flanges.

It sounds like you are using a rental pump? I presume you are starting on lowest setting. I wonder if it is possible the motor is going wonky. I had heard of pumps doing this but did not really believe it until I helped a mom once who had that issue-her older medela PnS went wonky and cycled too high or something, and it basically was sucking waaay too hard. Weird but true. Can you get your pump suction checked?

Last idea-baby is getting some old fashioned nipple confusion and trying to nurse on you like she nurses from bottle,- way to shallow, and while that does not feel too bad, it is causing sensitivity that is being exacerbated when pumping. Besides being very careful with latch, try this: http://www.llli.org/docs/00000000000...astfedbaby.pdf

Re: just back to work & pumping & now hu

that's what i was thinking! this can't be right, it should never hurt! i believe it was the lanolin making it stick. using the mama bee belly balm soothed the sore spot within the day. there does seem to be fit issue with the flange, though. where the sore spot was my nipple is now puckering. the base comes up, then dents a bit & then there's the rest of my nipple. i did remember the soreness came after he did bite once a few days ago like he bit his pacifier. He won't take the pacifier now so that's fixed.

Re: just back to work & pumping & now hu

Ah ha, interesting about the lanolin. It is sticky, so that makes sense! I'll have to remember that. Also the bite-yes all it takes is one little injury getting constantly re-injured to cause an issue with pumping or nursing. He can bite a bottle nipple too, so keep watching for that. Bottles & pacifiers don't say ouch but mommy does!